Goals for 2016

I’m not normally one for setting New Year’s Resolutions as they tend to fall by the wayside after a few weeks but I feel this year a few “easy” goals won’t hurt to keep me on the straight and narrow.

What better way to formalise them than with a much needed blog post? Here goes…

Blog more. I’ve completely neglected my site over the past year but have plenty to talk about through life and work. Expect to see more here (and maybe follow me on Medium if you’re that way inclined). I’m also planning to be more engaged on my social channels rather than just posting the habitual links. I hope that won’t become too annoying.

Launch an app. I’ve been working on a few web apps as side projects for several years now but nothing has reached fruition. I really need to find the time to release something then iterate accordingly (as all good apps should). I’ll be hashtagging relevant tweets with #shipsomething16 if you’re curious of progress.

Refocus. As mentioned above, I’ve many side projects on the go, some quite demanding, others not even going public. I need to evaluate what I’m passionate about, what I can reap reward from and what will realistically be possible with my limited capacity.

Speak more. No, I don’t intend to gabber on about nonsense more frequently. I’ve been arranging more community events over the past 6 months but only presented at a couple internal occasions. I plan to present some content at one of our quarterly ASOS UI events later this year once I’ve established a topic that is deemed worthy for public consumption without regurgitating the same old nonsense.

Be healthier. I’m not getting any younger but I am neglecting my health at times, especially working 12 hour days in London. Time to sort that out with more exercise, less meat and more sleep. (That last one may be a tricky balance with the above commitments.) As an added incentive, I’ll be making the most of my shiny new Apple Watch for monitoring my activity plus any suitable apps that tap in to HealthKit (like MyFitnessPal and Sleep Better) to fulfil my obsessive data addiction.

To make sure these goals aren’t neglected, I’ve set a reminder to review them every 3 months to see how I’m getting on. Feel free to keep badgering me if you’re following.